Thursday, December 27, 2012

OTTAWA — The federal government’s tough-on-crime agenda is
“excessively punitive” for youth and is a step backwards for Canada’s
child rights record, says a United Nations group.

The UN committee on the rights of the child has finished a 10-year
review of how Canada treats its children and how well governments are
implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In particular, the committee says Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act
complied with international standards until changes were introduced
earlier this year.

The Harper government’s Bill C-10 — an omnibus crime bill that
includes stiffer penalties for youth and makes it easier to try them as
adults — no longer conforms to the child rights convention or other
international standards.

Bill C-10 “is excessively punitive for children and not sufficiently
restorative in nature,” the committee wrote in a report published over
the weekend.

“The committee also regrets there was no child rights assessment or
mechanism to ensure that Bill C-10 complied with the provisions of the
convention.”

The committee also repeatedly expressed its concern that aboriginal
and black children are dramatically overrepresented in the criminal
justice system. Aboriginal youth are more likely to be jailed than
graduate from high school, the report said.

In order to meet the standards of the UN convention, Ottawa should
raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility and ensure that no one
under 18 is ever tried as an adult, the report said.

Authorities should also be developing alternatives to detention,
writing rules to restrain the use of force against children in detention
and to separate girls from boys in jail, the committee added.

Governments should determine why so many aboriginal and black
children and youth are involved in the criminal justice system and
figure out how to reduce the disparity, the report recommended.

The committee also chastised Canada for failing to provide equal
social services to aboriginal children — especially in the realm of
child welfare, an issue now before Canadian courts.

It accused authorities of “serious and widespread discrimination” in
the services they offer aboriginal children, visible minorities,
immigrants and children with disabilities.

“The UN joins the auditor general, leading experts and First Nations
in calling on the federal government to step up to the plate and ensure
equity for First Nations children,” said advocate Cindy Blackstock of
the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society.
“There is simply no excuse for a government to discriminate against children.”

The child rights convention is a binding international treaty that
Canada ratified in 1991. Signatories are obliged to defend their child
rights’ records and explain progress at regular intervals before a UN
committee.

Canadian officials appeared before the committee two weeks ago.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson rejects the claim that his crime
legislation does not comply with the child rights’ convention, said
spokeswoman Julie Di Mambro.

The legislation was amended to ensure no one under the age of 18 is detained in an adult facility, she noted.

“Our legislation reflects the need to protect society from serious
and violent young offenders,” Di Mambro said. “It targets the small
number of violent, repeat young offenders and its measures are balanced,
effective, and responsible.”

Previously in the House of Commons, Conservative parliamentary
secretary Bob Dechert lashed out at the UN committee because one of its
members is from Syria.

“Syria, a country whose rulers are stealing the innocence of an
entire generation of its children, is criticizing Canada,” he said.
“Imagine that.

“This is no doubt to distract from the atrocities that Syrian children are currently facing every day.”

But critics say Ottawa is wrong to write off the UN committee — even if Canada is not among the worst offenders.

“You can’t sign on to a treaty like the Convention on the Rights of
the Child without adhering to the guidelines that it lays out,” said
Jaskiran Dhillon, a representative for Justice for Girls.

“It sets an international bar for what treating and taking care of
your children and youth looks like. It doesn’t mean that you disregard
the most marginalized … populations of your country.”

The report also wants Canada to:

Adopt a national strategy to implement children’s rights, alleviate poverty and prevent violence.

Address high levels of violence against aboriginal women and girls.

Ensure child victims of violence have access to restraining orders and other means of protection.

Help troubled parents take better care of their children instead of sending them into foster care.

Ensure disabled children are not forced into segregated schooling.

Monitor the use of drugs to treat mental conditions in children, to curtail over-medication.

My heart goes out to the three women who had the misfortune to cross the path
of Nicholas Osuteye. We should consider all of these individuals victims of the
failing civil mental health system of care and a social safety net that fails
the most vulnerable and high-risk people every day in B.C.

As a social worker who has worked in psychiatric inpatient units with
individuals experiencing acute, severe and chronic psychiatric disorders, I can
tell you Mr. Osuteye's experience with B.C.'s acute psychiatric system is not
uncommon.

He also faced unique, made-in-B.C. structural barriers to receiving the help
and support he required, putting him and others at-risk.

Media reports suggest Mr. Osuteye voluntarily went to hospital because he
wanted help with medication. If Mr. Osuteye has been here for less than three
months, he would not meet the residency requirements for medical coverage under
the policies of the current health insurance regime of the B.C. government.Therefore, he likely had no way to pay for his stay in hospital and no way to
pay for medications, which would not be covered.

Mr. Osuteye also would not have met the residency requirements for applying
for crisis income assistance with the Ministry of Social Development if he were
here less than three months.

Even if he had access to a computer, which is how people must apply now, he
likely would not have been able to navigate the Byzantine application process
due to his acute illness.

If he had tried to call an office, he likely would have been unable to get
through to speak to a human being due to the automated telephone system which
bureaucratically ensures fewer people can successfully apply for income
assistance.

In my work as a psychiatric social worker at the Forensic Psychiatric
Hospital my colleagues and I saw clear anecdotal evidence that individuals who
were not receiving necessary civil mental health care, treatment and admission
to acute psychiatric units in local hospitals (if needed), or those who were
discharged before stabilization, and with a lack of solid discharge plans to
support them in the community, often ended up committing criminal code
violations while acutely mentally ill.

Many of these individuals go on to be found not criminally responsible on
account of mental disorder (NCRMD) and are then subject to lengthy time spent in
the much more expensive Forensic Psychiatric system that taxpayers are
funding.

In the last decade, the B.C. government has created grand mental health plans
for children, youth and adults, but their failure to adequately resource these
required systems of care has put many at risk.

Tragedies like this case occur because of the unspoken, unacknowledged
failure of the B.C. government for its lack of leadership, monitoring,
accountability and adequate funding of the mental health system of care. It is
time for them to take responsibility and to stop new tragedies from occurring.
They are the only ones who can do it.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Over time I have become increasingly concerned about the ever-increasing force of the narratives of sexualization, violence and oppression of girls and women that have become common place in North American society.

A day cannot go by in which girls and women are not exposed to multiple depictions of media and stories that normalize gendered oppression. This oppression is deeply embedded in the structures and institutions of our society and it impacts the day-to-day well-being, safety and lives of girls and women.

Structural oppression impacts girls and women's employment and career choices and opportunities. It impacts our ability to financially support ourselves, our children and our elders. We must all continue to work together to achieve equality, to eliminate violence against girls and women. Boys and men are important partners in this fight against the oppression of girls and women. I believe that we can have equality and justice for all in Canada, it takes the will of the people working together to meet this goal.

YWCA Canada’s Rose Campaign to end violence against women and girls
takes its name from the rose button created after 14 young women were
murdered on December 6, 1989 and commemorates December 6 as Canada’s
National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

The
Rose Campaign works year-round to reduce violence against women,
increase public awareness and prevent violence before it starts.

Violence against women is a $4 billion problem in Canada. Each year,
violence and abuse drive over 100,000 women and children out of their
homes and into shelters. They face an uncertain future with a high risk
of homelessness and poverty.

You can take action to change their lives.

Send a rose campaign message to your MP.Donate to end violence against women and girls.

OTTAWA (December 4, 2012): On December 6, Canada
will focus once again on violence against women. The National
Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC) would like to take this
occasion to publicly support those communities across the country, and
the efforts of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, who are calling
on the Federal government to establish a public inquiry and a national
framework of action to address the issue of missing and murdered
Aboriginal women and girls in Canada. Aboriginal women are 3.5 times
more likely than non-Aboriginal women to be victims of violence.

Since the 1980s, it has been estimated that thousands of aboriginal
women have gone missing and have been murdered. Roughly half of the
official murders and disappearances have occurred since the year 2000.
At present, there are 583 documented cases. Unofficial accounts are
significantly higher. Aboriginal women between the ages of 25 and 44
are five times more likely than all other Canadian women in the same age
group to die as a result of violence.

Violence against aboriginal women has been at crisis levels for
years. It affects the individual, their families and the health of
thousands of communities across Canada. All levels of government and
law enforcement need to work with aboriginal and non aboriginal leaders
to prevent further injustice and build healthier communities. Existing
barriers must be eliminated so communities can begin to solve many of
these cases and to prevent this shame from continuing. Only then can
faith in the justice system be restored allowing for communities to come
together towards healthier outcomes.

Last year, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women began an inquiry into murdered and missing
Aboriginal women in Canada. “Canadians need to recognize that
Aboriginal women play integral roles in communities across Canada. As
mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers and aunts, women who are
victims of violence should not suffer in silence. We have been hearing
their cries for years. In a country such as ours, leadership and
commitment are two first steps that will help us heal,” says Vera Pawis
Tabobondung, President, NAFC.

Friendship Centres throughout Canada have been working at the
community level focusing attention on violence against women working
with partners and other organizations to achieve the goal or reducing
and eliminating violence that exists at unacceptable levels. Aboriginal women
(First Nations, Inuit and Métis) are more than eight times more likely
to be killed by their intimate partner than non-Aboriginal women.

In 2013, the NAFC will lead a national Aboriginal awareness campaign
to decrease domestic human trafficking among Aboriginal peoples. The
NAFC will establish a National Aboriginal Advisory Committee (NAAC)
consisting of regional, youth and expert representation. The NAAC will
devise and lead a community engagement plan to gather insight from a
wide range of Aboriginal peoples across the country into the messaging
and formats the national campaign materials should assume. The project
will lead to an increase in knowledge sharing and awareness around
human trafficking and it will increase community capacity to combat
human trafficking.

To support the Native Women’s Association of Canada, we ask the
public to visit their website to learn more about violence against
Aboriginal women and to sign the petition calling for a national inquiry
at http://www.nwac.ca/programs/sisters-spirit.